Wow! I cannot believe I am doing this but I am writing my final blog for you guys. I hope that someone has actually been reading these blogs or it is going to be very awkward. Well, it’s that time of the year again when snow is falling, it’s -17 degrees out, and I am trying to cram everything in before finals week. I just want to say that this neurochemistry class has been one of my favorite classes that I have taken here at Concordia College. When I think chemistry class, I think chemicals and formulas until my head hurts but neurochemistry has been a pleasant surprise.
I think that this class fulfills every requirement that is needed to be considered a capstone course. It has been one of few courses that have been able to mesh everything that I have learned as a liberal arts student and have it make sense. If you have not noticed already, my blogs have been infused with chemistry, biology, psychology, and even a little sociology. I believe that the structure of this class played a crucial role in the overall quality of the class.
The first half of our semester consisted of learning everything that we needed to learn in order for us to even comprehend anything that the articles were talking about. This included learning about neurotransmitters, receptors, and other functions of the brain. But the fun came the second part the semester where we got to read and discuss articles like we have never done before. Typically, on Mondays we would go around and discuss what we did not understand about the articles and what we found interesting. This just got the juices flowing in our brain after a long weekend of fun and what not. I’m just kidding, I don’t do fun on weekends. They are saved for studying! DUH! On Wednesdays, we would teach our classmates on a topic that was not fully understood in the article. At first, I thought that Wednesdays were a dud because I was having a hard time paying attention to the twenty some topics that were being discussed but thankfully our professor changed up the format towards the middle of the discussions. We switched to a speed dating type of atmosphere where we could discuss topics to individuals rather than the entire class. This made it easier to pay attention to all the topics and made it more fun as well. Finally, on Friday mornings, after a long night at “the office,” we would come together and discuss the topic as groups. These discussions were not only about the article but the implications of the research along with more broad ideas. Since most of our class consisted of people that we have known for almost four years, discussions were free flowing and fun at times. The structure of the class really contributed to the experience that I had with my capstone course but I believe that I learned the most during our two “exams.”
Our exams were deconstructed versions of scientific papers and we were responsible for putting the ideas together to form ideas. This process required a lot of critical thinking along with utilization of previous knowledge. This is the part of the class that I was able to utilize everything that I learned as a chemistry and biology major. After piecing everything together in the in-class portion of the exam we took home a copy of our exam and a copy of the actual article. Our job was to evaluate our reconstruction of the concept. Our grade was not based on how well we put together the puzzle but it was based on how well we supported our thinking. This made me realize how much I had learned in such a short time here at Concordia College.
I could potentially argue that this was one of the best classes that I have taken in my college career. It was both fun and informative. I have learned more about the brain and its pathways than I have ever learned before. This class provided an environment where I was able to apply all my knowledge in a creative and scientific way. If you asked me on the first day of school, if I would have loved this class, I would have answered with a loud “probably not.” However, now that the semester is coming to an end, I believe that I will dearly miss this class.
Hey…Hey…Hey…Goodbye
